At this year’s World Cup, the rest of the globe will not be rooting for Team USA.
This has nothing to do with the players. As seen in the excellent HBO documentary series U.S. Against the World: Four Years With the U.S. Men’s National Team, the USMNT is a likable squad made up of young and talented, ambitious but humble players who, at another tournament in another year, would be everyone’s favorite second team.
But this is not another tournament in another year. The 2026 FIFA World Cup may officially be a three-way party co-hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico, but thanks to President Trump, the planet’s most beloved sporting celebration has been turned into a referendum on American power, American paranoia, and a particular Trump-era brand of kleptocratic nationalism. Going into the tournament, the U.S., usually viewed as the plucky underdogs in global soccer, finds itself cast in an unfamiliar role: as tournament villain.
Both within and outside the United States, politics has invaded World Cup coverage, crowding traditional sports reporting off the pitch. A May 28 article in the Columbia Journalism Review noted how publications like The Guardian and The Athletic are devoting resources to the politics and business stories surrounding the tournament — reporting on border controls, ICE crackdowns and the dynamic ticket pricing that will make this World Cup the most expensive ever for fans.
